Year 6
Inspired by the true story of an African childhood lived on the edge of destitution, award-winning Elizabeth Laird's new novel takes readers on an unforgettable emotional journey. When Mamo's mother dies, he is abandoned in the shanties of Addis Ababa. Stolen by a child-trafficker and sold to a farmer, he is cruelly treated. Escaping back to the city, he meets another, very different runaway. Dani is rich, educated -- and fleeing his tyrannical father. Together they join a gang of homeless street boys who survive only by mutual bonds of trust and total dependence on each other.
This is the story of love, commitment and the flowering of the human spirit against the background of South Africa's apartheid. Frightened that their baby sister Dineo will die, thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother Tiro run away from their grandmother to Johannesburg to find their mother, who works there as a maid. Their journey illustrates at every turn the grim realities of apartheid - the pass laws, bantustans, racism, the breakdown of family life. The opulence of the white "Madam's" house contrasts starkly with the reality that Naledi and Tiro face - that their baby sister is suffering from starvation, not an incurable disease.
Imagine you wrote a story and that story came true. This is exactly what happens to Blue Baker when he writes about a savage living alone in the woods near his home. After his dad's death, Blue finds comfort in dreaming of a wild kid who survives on a diet of berries and the occasional hapless passer-by. But when the savage pays a night-time visit to the local bully, boundaries become blurred and Blue begins to wonder where he ends and the savage begins.
A boy who fights with his school mates, and makes it difficult for anyone to like him, learns how to be accepted. A story of isolation, bravery and gradual acceptance told with humour by Louis Sachar, the author of the brilliant Holes.
When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister's illness, Michael's world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain. Then, exploring a ramshackle garage with new-found friend Mina, he finds something magical. A strange creature - part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael's help if he is to survive.
An air pilot makes a forced landing deep in the Sahara Desert. There, he makes a mysterious Little Prince, who tells him a series of wise and enchanting stories. This simple, beautiful fable has captured the imaginations of both adults and children ever since it was first published in the 1940s. Now considered a contemporary classic, it is a book to share and to treasure.
Grandpa is dying. He can barely move his hands any more but, stubborn as ever, refuses to stay in hospital. He's determined to finish his last painting, 'River Boy', before he goes.
What drives so many to leave everything behind and journey alone to a mysterious country, a place without family or friends, where everything is nameless and the future is unknown. This silent graphic novel is the story of every migrant, every refugee, every displaced person, and a tribute to all those who have made the journey.
Joe Perkins – doesn’t just get to be an MP, he accidentally becomes Prime Minister. Promising that where there is grumpiness, may he bring giggles and where there is jelly, may he bring ice-cream, Joe sets out to make the country a happier, more relaxed place. It works, at least until his scheming deputy puts a spanner in the works, or a nail in a bouncy castle to be precise.
Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things - eating ice cream, playing on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids aren't stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it.
An intricately plotted, compelling and timeless tale from a master storyteller which works well as a text for guided reading or as a whole class read aloud. Naomi and Lizzie are orphan girls living in a small town where nothing much happens until the arrival of a new boy sets off a chain of events which changes their lives forever.
A warning of danger in a letter left by her absent mother has forbidden Lettie Peppercorn to ever set foot on Albion so she lives a lonely life as the underage landlady of the White Horse, an inn built on stilts. Her father is rarely home, drinking and gambling away any takings. Nothing incredible has ever happened to Lettie until one winter’s night when the mysterious Snow Merchant arrives and she sets off on a journey that will change her world forever.
Do you have a book recommendation to share with your classmates?
Simply collect a copy of the book review template from your class reading corner
to record your ideas and opinions on.
Finally, post your completed review into the Reading Postbox, outside the year 4 classroom!
Keep an eye on this webpage, to see your recommendation published!